Furrae Chronicles: Webs of Destiny (IC) [M] {2}

[Paladin Sheppard]

With a pop of displaced air a warp aci appeared, making a beeline for Paladin, it place a sealed letter into the wolf's hands and dissapeared again.

Taking the note Pal stood as the shots rang out. "I wouldn't be surprised Jay..." Opening the letter he suddenly clamped down on his mental shields but not before his anger and dissapointment radiated from him.

Walking over to Gareeku, Pal had a short conversation before moving towards his bike. Stopping as he pasted Blaze he patted him on the shoulder. "Say hi to RJ if you see her, I've been called back to the city. Take care of these guys ok?"

Saying a farewell to the rest of the group Pal got onto his bike. Rex climbed on Pal's shoulder and they both disappeared in a flash of light.

[Gabi]

Gabi heard the shots too. Then she saw Paladin leave. A lot of things were happening, and they weren't good things. She wished Paladin had at least given her the chance to say goodbye. She sighed, and turned to 'Jay' and Gareeku.

"Should we check what's going on?," she suggested.

Where there were shots, there was trouble. Gabi didn't really like heading into it, but there were probably innocents involved, and she couldn't just turn her back on them, whether she knew them or not.

[Gareeku]

Hearing Paladin's words, Gareeku nodded his head and watched his friend leave, before turning to Gabi.
"We better had. It's probably Arc." the wolf growled, before beginning to run in the direction of the gunshots. Although he thought it better if they investigated the gunshots, Gareeku was not overly worried. hey not have liked Arc very much, but he knew that the mercenary was not one to merely go around killing innocents...at least, he didn't think so...

"Arc! It's us!" Gareeku's voice yelled out, letting the mercenary know it was them before suspecting it was more possible attackers. Around 10 seconds after he had called out, Gaeeku arrived on the scene, observing the fur that Arc was pining to the floor.

"Mind telling me what's going on?" Gareeku asked with a raised eyebrow, folding his arms as he spoke.

[Hilary]

Anzimani launched herself off the branch, flapping after Gareeku. Spiraling up to the top of another nearby tree, she watched the scene below with a birds-eye veiw.

She quickly glanced over the bandits that Arc had already dispatched. Not recognizing either of them, she settled herself on a branch and tucked her wings behind her.

[Tapewolf]

"You're catching up," said Jay, looking at the corpses.  "Just two more and you'll have drawn level with Johan Cross."  Oops, almost said "me", Jakob thought.  Don't want to give him any ideas.

"Now, how about you release this guy and explain what the hell is going on?  He's totally outnumbered, after all."

[Arcalane]

Arc snorts, picking the bandit up by the collar. He stares at the man - in the low light it's hard to tell what he is - and speaks without turning his head.

"They chose the wrong person to try and ambush."

He glares at the survivor, then throws him to the floor, quite roughly.

"Go. Now."

Not one to argue, the bandit scrambles to his feet and runs off, dropping his weapons as he flees into the forest.

"It was me or them and--... well, they... never really stood a chance. Now if you'll excuse me... I have to be going."

Before anyone has a chance to get a word in edgeways, he's already moving off toward the treeline.

[Tapewolf]

Jay shook his head as Arc left.  "Someone really needs to teach that guy the Stun spell."

This was mostly wishful thinking, though - Stun was actually quite a hard spell to master, and whether a Being would be able to do it at all was somewhat questionable.

"I suppose we'd better bury the victims," he said with in air of resignation.

[Gabi]

Gabi nodded. "I doubt he'd be willing to use it, though. Some people see violence as the first and only choice."

She looked around, sadly.
"I'll help," she offered.

She hoped beyond hope that at least one of them still had a pulse, so that she could do more than just help put their remains underground. She reminded herself that they were criminals, but the sight of the corpses kept reminding her of the terrible view she'd encountered when she'd first entered Ha'Kun. It was one of those things someone like her would never forget, even if she tried.

[RJ]

"Guess I'm a bit slow on the uptake," Blaze commented, walking towards them and glancing down at the corpses, "sorry about that."

I can't help but feel a little out of all this with Pal gone now... The squirrel thought with a slightly irritated frown.

[Hilary]

Anzimani watched Arc leave with narrowed eyes, a small smile playing across her face. He reminded her of someone she used to know; a believer in the 'fill him with bullets, then ask the corpse questions' philosophy.

And look where that one ended up, she thought with a smirk. Pushing up daisies.

She scrambled down a few branches until she reached one where she could unfurl her wings more comfortably. Flapping down to the others, she looked at the former bandits with a twinge of sadness. Who knew what they could have been? Done?

But she quickly pushed those thoughts away. Dead was dead, and they were dead for good.

"I suppose I'll help stick them in the ground, for all the good it will do. Personally, I'm a fan of cremation."

[Tapewolf]

"Cremation?" said Jay, his hands glowing faintly as he used a spell to loosen the topsoil of the grave.  "I'm nine hundred years old Anzi, and in my time I have seen many good men turn to crime out of desperation.  These two may have lost their chance to redeem themselves, but did they really sink so low that they don't deserve at least something in their memory?"

Redemption, Jakob thought, haunted once again by his shameful past, everyone should have a chance to try and make amends...

It was very dark by the time they had buried the pair.  Jakob chose a suitably heavy stone and, sharpening his claws to razor points as most Creatures can, carved a brief epitaph in the rock with his hand.

We never learned their names
They learned that banditry can carry a heavy price
May others learn from their mistakes

"Now, if no-one objects," he said, rising, "I'm going to catch some rest.  I suspect tomorrow is going to be a long day."

[Gareeku]

"Jakob is right. I'm pretty certain that these men did not turn to crime out of free will." Gareeku said after Jakob had finished speaking, before helping to dig the grave.

Once they had finished, Gareeku stood and looked at the now finished grave, complete with headstone.
"Heh...just think...I'll have one of these to myself soon enough..." Gareeku commented, a slight smirk on his face as he spoke, "...I just hope I get one to myself. I like my legroom."

Saying nothing more, Gareeku turned and walked away, sitting against a tree a short distance away, looking up at the star-filled sky above him.

[RJ]

"People sometimes turn to the worst of things just to get through the day." Blaze grimaced at the tombstone and the message Jay had clawed out on it.

His eyes followed along as Gareeku left to sit against a tree before strolling up casually and leaning against the same tree.

"Hope I'm not intruding," he said while crossing his arms, "but I think I should just tell you... don't start to wallow in this."

The squirrel glimpsed up at the sky.

"You've got a lot of friends- more than myself, that's for sure. I think you owe it to them to not act like a self-pitying cynic and make them feel worse..." Blaze paused before pushing off of the tree and glancing down at him briefly. "Do you want people to feel depressed when you die? Or do you want them to feel lucky to have known such a hero?"

Blaze shoved his hands in his pockets and started to walk back to the camp.

[Paladin Sheppard]

As the squirrel walked away from Gareeku the white wolf shifted against the tree, that combined with a gust of wind was enough to cause a small figure near one of the upper branches to slip. Managing to hold on and start to climb up again it was just about to rest again when a sound the black furred figure didn't want to hear...

The sound of the branch snapping off near the trunk.

Those below would have barely had time to register the sound when the figure made its decent.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh." The cry ended as a black (obviously female) furred figure wearing green leathers landed on top of the wolf.

The branch meanwhile hit the ground on its end, the younger branches on its end bending and then like a spring straitening spinning it towards the squirrel, only missing by a few centimeters.

"Ouchies." The young girl half moaned.

[Gabi]

Gabi's ears perked up ash she heard Gareeku saying Jakob's name, but she said nothing and forced herself to think of something else. She'd messed up enough already. The tasteless joke he made afterwards made it easier. She wondered how he could say something like that... and then she wondered what it felt like to know something like that... and what exactly it was that he knew.

She put a stone on the last grave. Her parents had tought her to do that. "Flowers fade and rot, but stones last forever," they'd said. She doubted they could really last forever, but agreed that they probably lasted for long enough.

Her reflection was interrupted by a distant cry, which concluded with an assortment of bumping noises and a not so distant moan. She turned around and approached the recently fallen stranger, taking a look at her in order to decide how to react to her presence. The healer in her reminded her of what came first.
"Is everyone alright?," she asked.

[Gareeku]

As the squirrel talked to him, Gareeku said nothing, though his anger was starting to build. He had been annoyed enough when Paladin had just decided to vanish. Granted, Gareeku knew it was for the best, but he couldn't help feel a bit put off. That was just the way he was. Now he was being told straight by Blaze, and had to stop himself from snapping back at the squirrel. Deep down, the wolf knew the incubus was right, but he wasn't really in the mood to be thinking rationally about these sort of things.
I'd love to see him tell me the same thing if he was the one who only had a short time left... Gareeku thought to himself with a slight grimace as he put up a mind shield. He didn't want people prying into his thoughts again in the same night.

It was then that, just as Gareeku was about to close his eyes to sleep, he suddenly felt a large weight fall on top him, causing him to emit a loud "oof!". Looking to see what had fallen on him, the wolf's eyebrow raised when he found it to be a young girl.
"I'm fine..." Gareeku said with a slight growl in reply to Gabi's question, not taking his eyes off of the young girl as he stood up and dusting himself off slightly, "...Mind explaining to me what it was you were doing up there?"

[RJ]

As the branches whizzed past Blaze's ear, the squirrels eyes twitched and widened.

Are we being shot at?!, he thought in a sudden panic. The fur on his ears had puffed out dramatically.

As he noticed they were only branches he gave a sigh of relief and recomposed himself. He clamped his hands around his ears to try and smooth the fur down, though to little effect.

Blaze turned around, attempting to look calm and collected despite the fact his fuzzy ears made him look bizzare. His brow twitched as he saw Gareeku pulling a girl off as he quickly stood up.

The only words that came to him to say out loud were "What the...?"

[Tapewolf]

Gods, what a night.. thought Jakob as he heard a snapping branch and a cry of horror.  Turning around, he saw the others reaching out to examine a dark shape sprawled on the ground before them, obviously just fallen out of the tree.

"She's probably not an assassin or a mercenary," he said, his mind jumping to thoughts of self-preservation as usual, "but I think we should take her weapons until we know why she was hiding in that tree."

[Gabi]

Gabi listened to Jakob's words and nodded.
"Probably," she said. "But I think we should give her a chance to explain her actions."

She then turned to thw newcommer.
"Who are you?," she questioned her. "And what were you doing on that tree?"

[Paladin Sheppard]

With her panic being broadcast, and plain on her face the tasmanian devil crab crawled backwards away from the group of creatures, her red hair done up in a ponytail and her green leathers proclaiming her ether a thief or a hunter...But the bow slung over her shoulder meant it was most likely the latter.

'Crapcrapcrapimgonnadietheyregonnakillmeijustwantedtofindjade-' Her train of though was interupted by her backing up against the tree.

Seeing no choice she decided to answer, "I..I..I'm Ephrael...P..Please don't kill me I just wanted to find my sister!!"
With this she curled up into sobbing ball.

A letter, very much like the ones the others had floated down out of the tree and landed on the part thief part hunter.

[Hilary]

Sitting with her back against one of the thicker trunks, Anzimani had been feeling a little hostile toward the newcomer, as she couldn't read minds like most of the others. But when she heard that the girl was looking for her sister, her heart automatically softened. The pheonix had almost lost her own sister once.

She was pretty sure she knew what the letter contained, but she stood up and padded over to pick it up and see if her suspicions were correct.

"Don't worry... we're not like that. You should be glad we found you first, though." As she spoke, she bent down to retrieve the letter, shivering inwardly at the thought of what would have happened if the girl had startled Arc instead.

[Gareeku]

Looking down at the cowering figure, Gareeku suddenly felt very sympathetic towards her. It was probably a very frightening situation for the young girl, what with her being surrounded by a group consisting for creatures. Bending down, the wolf put a hand on her shoulder and smiled warmly.
"Don't worry, we won't hurt you, I swear it," Gareeku said softly, "What's your name?"
Glancing over at the letter but not yet reading it, Gareeku's eyebrows raised slightly. Could she also be looking for a missing loved one?
"Say...you wouldn't have happened to get this letter after your sister disappeared, would you?" the wolf asked.

[Tapewolf]

Jay relaxed.  "I'm sorry if we came over as threatening," he said, "but it was necessary to establish if you were dangerous.  These last few days have been rather perilous and we are all somewhat on edge as you can probably tell.  The name's Jay, by the way."

[RJ]

Blaze's eyebrow twitched in annoyance as he crossed his arms. The fur on his ears were only just starting to get out of "panic-fuzz mode", as his sister called it.

A wave of distress and panic washed over him as he saw the new girl backing away from the others, stammering out her situation. For a second, Blaze felt guilty at having been annoyed at her.

Sister, huh...? he thought. So she's like a lot of the others here searching. Wonder what it'd be like if RJ went missing...? Blaze gave a tiny smirk to himself. What am I talking about? RJ's too much of a destructive force to be kept hostage somewhere... But, maybe I should try a little harder to understand what these people are going through?

Blaze uncrossed his arms and tried to look as unthreatening as possible, though it was a tough endevour.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Uncurling from her ball Ephrael hugged her knees to her chest. "Y..Yes I went o..out hunting two d..days ago and she was gone, and t..that letter was left on t..the floor."

Some of her shock began to wear off, and her broken ankle started to send pain signals up her leg. She cursed loud enough to send the birds in the nearest trees into flight. "S..Sorry" She stammered

As Anzimani reached for the letter Ephrael flinched, then gave her the piece of paper.

[Gabi]

Noticing Ephrael's predicament (as if it were possible not to notice it with the way she cursed), Gabi approached her slowly. She looked down to see what part of her lower limb was hurt, and then looked back at Ephrael's face.

"May I take a look at your ankle?," she offered. "I'm a healer. My name is Gabi."

[Paladin Sheppard]

"O..Okay" Ephrael managed. "Thank you."

She gingerly streched her leg out to Gabi.

Eph smiled weakly at the white wolf touching her shoulder. "Have you lost someone too?"

[Gareeku]

"Yes, I have," Gareeku replied to the woman next to him, the soft reassuring smile still on his face, "my mother and uncle were taken. All of us have lost someone close to us. We're currently tring to find them. From the looks of things, you've been given a letter like the rest of us."

[Tapewolf]

"Curious," said Jay, "I was sure we had the complete map.  I didn't think it would be able merge itself if there was a piece missing."

"Tell me, Ephrael," he said, more to distract her than because he was interested, "when did you learn of your sister's disappearance?"

[Gabi]

Gabi listened to the questions and made a mental note to evaluate them later. Right now, she had a patient to treat, and that took precedence.

She examined Ephrael's ankle, which by now was quite swollen. Something was broken inside, but fortunately none of the tendons had snapped. She paused for a minute to think. If she did things right, Ephrael would be able to walk again without limping. But a wrong move could leave her permanently handicapped.

"One of the bones in your ankle is broken," she announced. "I'll have to force it back into the right position. I can use magic to numb the pain and reduce the swelling, but it will still hurt a bit; you must make an effort to stay still. Then I'll have to immobilise it so that it doesn't slip out of place again."

She looked at Ephrael to make sure she understood, and then turned to the rest of the group.

Can someone please bring some short sticks, and hand me the bandages from my backpack? And if you can find something she may use as a walking stick, that will help a lot.

She looked back at Ephrael. Now that she'd played and replayed the whole process in her mind, she felt more comfident.

"Don't worry," she reassured her. "You'll be walking again soon. If things go well, I can use another spell tomorrow to help your bones seal, but I must give your body some time to react or else it may lose the ability to heal itself. Even after that, it will still hurt a little and you'll have to be careful not to make any sudden moves, but the pain will go after a few days and then you'll be as good as new."

She waited for Ephrael's reaction and for the items she requested in order to proceed.